Swale Pond: for Piano, Four Hands
JJ Hollingsworth was commissioned to compose Swale Pond by the B Sharp Music Club of Upstate New York. It was inspired by the Swale Pond Bird and Wildlife Sanctuary in Trenton, NY. The piece was premiered on January 21, 2024 at Munson Auditorium in Utica as a multi-media work by pianists Tina Toglia and Ida Tili-Tribecka, and live painting artist Mary Murphy.
Tina and JJ met at Rami Bar-Niv's Rhapsody Piano Camp where Tina was teaching master classes. JJ gave Tina one of her older pieces entitled Under The Blue Dome and Tina loved it.
In July of 2023, JJ met another friend of Rami and Tina, artist Mary Murphy, who took JJ and Rami for a walk on the Swale Pond Trail. Mary gave JJ a painting she did of Swale Pond and JJ sat the painting on her piano desk as she composed Swale Pond.
Mallard Lake in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park reminds JJ of Swale Pond. It gives her the same feeling of light drawing her in and there is color, movement, and happiness. Trees in both parks speak a universal language.
JJ composed "Morning Light" and "Sky and Water" following her walk around Swale Pond with the incredible sky and water. She inverted the water theme to illustrate beautiful reflections.
"Trillium" was composed about Mary's painting using a 9/8 time signature which sounds like a wild trillium flower looks.
For the "Toads and Birds" section, JJ included the actual auditory cues of Swale Pond's toads and birds that she heard on her walk with Mary.
For "Beavers and Geese", JJ uses a slap on the piano desk to represent the sound beavers make with their tails while the Canada geese scream out with their migratory calls from above.
The "Trees" section builds trees from the trunk upward following the trees as you look up, and since Swale Pond goes through four seasons, the music ends with snow sparkling on the trees.
This piece follows a rondo form - we walk in the "Stroll" sections and then we stop and look at something specific - a humble salute to Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.
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